In brief: Accretive names private equity exec to board

Steven Shulman, an operating partner at Chicago-based health care private-equity firm Water Street Health Partners, was elected to the board of Accretive Health Inc. on April 18, according to a company filing. Chicago-based Accretive, which helps hospitals manage their revenue cycles, also expanded the number of board members to 10, the filing said. Mr. Shulman, 61, will serve as a director until 2014. “Mr. Shulman has built, led and invested in many successful organizations in health care,” an Accretive spokesman said in a statement. “With his significant experience and skills, we look forward to his valuable contributions.” Embattled Accretive this month named a new CEO while in the midst of restating revenue dating to 2010 and trying to rebound after an investigation last year into the company's collection practices.

Presence inks electronic health record contract with tech firm

Presence Health has awarded a three-year contract to Harris Corp. to create a private health information exchange where physicians and patients can share electronic health records, said Dr. Richard Ferrans, vice president for clinical integration and accountable care for the 12-hospital network. The contract with Presence, with an estimated $3 billion in annual revenue, began in late December. The platform also will allow patients to contact their physicians and access their records online, according to a news release to be issued by Harris, a Melbourne, Fla.-based communications and technology firm with $5.5 billion in annual revenue. The new platform should allow Presence to better analyze patient data to improve care and reduce costs, Dr. Ferrans said.

Dr. Saul Weiner

Better results from a broader view

Treatment outcomes improve when physicians consider circumstances outside the exam room, such as patients' access to care, financial hardship and spiritual beliefs, according to a study published April 16 in Annals of Internal Medicine. In the study, 774 patients secretly recorded their visits with 139 resident physicians who agreed to participate. The doctors, who did not know which patients were recording them, were scored based on the individual care plan they created. Dr. Saul Weiner, a professor at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System and a physician at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center on the Near West Side, was the lead author. The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.